I Wish I Were Dead!!!

Should we be able to choose when and how we wish to die?

• Terminally ill people should have the right to choose when they want to die and how they want to die if they are in extreme pain. It is their freedom of choice to end their agony.

Under what circumstances should we be permitted to make the decision to die?

• Circumstances: if the person is terminally ill and in extreme pain, physically suffering from their illness.

What is physician-assisted suicide?

• Physician-assisted suicide is when a physician helps and provides a patient with the medication to end their life. They only provide the medication the patient takes the step to consume the dosage.

Should doctors be permitted to assist in a person's death?

• A physician should be able to assist in a person’s death if the patient is terminally ill and want s to end their pain. It is not right for the physician to make the patient suffer.

Should doctors be required to help us die?

• It should not be required of doctors to help people die because some may not be comfortable with helping in the process of someone’s death. There should be a list of doctors who have agreed to perform the procedure so that people who are suffering can go to them for the injection. Not all doctors need to be able to perform this procedure.

What is euthanasia?

• The word Euthanasia comes from the Greek term meaning “Good Death.” Euthanasia is the act or practice of killing or allowing the death of desperately sick and injured individuals in a fairly painless way to give mercy to the suffering individual. Euthanasia is also called the “Mercy Killing”

What is the difference between active and passive euthanasia?

• Active Euthanasia is taking extra steps to end the patient’s life. An example would be injecting the patient or overdosing them with a medication. Something done to end the life of the patient. There are three types of Active Euthanasia.. 1.) Involuntary- death of a patient by medical practitioner without the patient’s consent. 2.) Non-Voluntary- Surrogate decision maker, not the actual patient, asks the physician to assist in the death of another person’s life. 3.) Voluntary- intention termination of like at patient’s request by someone other than patient. Example: injecting patient with posion; an overdose of pain killers or sleeping pills.

• Passive Euthanasia is the withdrawing of medical treatment with the intentions of causing the patient’s death. They just stop the treatment that the patient needs to survive. Something that isn’t done to end life of patient. Example: If a patient requires kidney dialysis to survive, and the doctors disconnect the dialysis machine, the patient will persumably die fairly soon.

Under what circumstance should euthanasia be allowed?

• Euthanasia should be allowed for terminally ill patients if they choose to do so.

What is a living will?

• A living will is a written document that identifies the types of medical treatment the patient would like in the event that they become terminally ill or incapacitated. It allows you to say whether or not you want your life-prolonging medical treatment to be continued, withdrawn, or withheld. This also goes along with artificial food and fluid that prolongs a person's life. When a person becomes incapacitated the physician must follow the person's living will to make decisions. The will may be changed anytime before the person becomes incapacitated. The living will can only be valid if the proper form was used for your state. Some states require two witnesses when you sign the will. It is only used when given to a physician AND your incapable of making health care descions for yourself.

What are some arguments for and against euthanasia?

• For:
  • Provides way to relieve extreme pain
  • Provide way of relief when a person's qulaity of life is low
  • Frees up medical funds to help other people
  • Case of freedom of choice
• Against:
  • Devalues human life
  • Can become mean of health care cost containment
  • Physicians/Med. Care people should not be involved directly on causing death
  • "Slippery Slope" effect that has occured where euthanasia as been first legalized for teminally ill/later laws are changed to allow for other people or to be done non-voluntarily.

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